This invention relates in general to the field of electronic systems, and more particularly to a system and method for active uniform network resource locators embedded in a during playback of a media file or media broadcast.
Uniform resource locators (URLs) are currently used to provide addressing of and access to resources on the public Internet and private intranets. These Internet/intranet URLs allow client systems of the network to request the documents or other resources from servers of the network by reference to the URL. The available resources generally include HTML Web pages as well as audio files and movie files that: can be downloaded to a user""s machine. The URLs for resources typically are displayed within Web pages either as hypertext links or as graphics hot spots and allow users to navigate the various resources available on the network. URLs can also be entered manually by a user in order to connect to a specific resource. When accessed, Web pages typically are loaded by a web browser, interpreted and then displayed to the user. Audio files and movie files, on the other hand, are usually downloaded as discrete files to the user""s system and then played in a separate window using some form of playback application. In general, such audio and movie files provide a time-based medium understood and interpreted by the playback application to generate audio sounds and video displays.
Conventional movie playback applications include QUICK TIME, available from APPLE COMPUTERS, and VIDEO FOR WINDOWS, available from MICROSOFT. QUICK TIME VR, also available from APPLE COMPUTERS, is a playback application that plays files expressed in a spatial-based medium to allow viewing of a scene from multiple viewpoints. One use of VIDEO FOR WINDOWS is described in an article xe2x80x9cAVI Files with Hot Spotsxe2x80x9d, Technical Articles: Multimedia Microsoft Development Library. This article describes specifying hot-spots for audio-video interleaved (AVI) files where the hot spots can be drawn on AVI files and saved in hot-spot information files which can be specified as a parameter when the AVI is played. The described AVI hot-spot functionality allows specifying beginning and ending frames for each hot spot, as long as two hot spots do not have the same beginning or ending frames. The described AVI hot-spot functionality also allows executing viewer commands and calling stand-alone applications when a hot spot is selected as well as to continue, stop or jump within the AVI file being played.
There are additional movie-type diplays that can be created through the use of executable languages such as the use of JAVA applets to animate graphics. In addition, POINTCAST can be used to broadcast static screens over the public Internet or private intranets that are updated to provide a slide show presentation. Other conventional presentation software applications allow a user to build video into a presentation including DIRECTOR, available from MACROMEDIA, which allows a user to program a presentation which can include video. Relatively new technologies are also available that integrate common television with Internet web activity to allow a user to access the public Internet or private intranets using a web browser and to display the web browser""s output on a televisions.
A problem with conventional audio files, movie files and other time-based media and their associated playback applications is that a discontinuity in user""s ability to navigate network resources is created during playback. This discontinuity is created by the user""s not being allowed to activate URLs for other resources from within the playback window during playback. For example, playback of a conventional movie file could cause a URL to be displayed as text within the video, but the URL would not be an active hypertext link. If the user wanted to follow the displayed URL the user would need to invoke a Web browser and manually enter the URL.
In accordance with the present invention, a system and method for displaying uniform network resource locators embedded in a time-based medium are provided that substantially eliminate or reduce disadvantages and problems associated with previously developed time-based media and playback applications.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for displaying a uniform network resource locator embedded in a time-based medium. In one embodiment, the time-based medium can be a movie file having a uniform network resource locator embedded by association with a track in the movie file. In another embodiment, the time-based medium can be a video signal having an encoded uniform network resource locator. An output for display is generated based upon the time-based medium where display of the output shows the embedded uniform network resource locator to a user and where the embedded uniform network resource locator is active during display of the output. The user is then allowed to activate the embedded uniform network resource locator. In response to activation by the user, the embedded uniform network resource locator is followed to retrieve a resource addressed by the embedded uniform network resource locator.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a system is provided for displaying a uniform network resource locator embedded in a time-based medium. The system includes a data storage device storing a time-based medium having an embedded uniform network resource locator. A playback application is operable to access the data storage device. The playback application is further operable to read the time-based medium, interpret the time-based medium and generate an output for display. The output includes the embedded uniform network resource locator where the embedded uniform network resource locator is active. A display is operable to receive the output of the playback application and to display the output to a user of the system. A user input device is operable to provide information to the playback application such that the user can select and activate the embedded uniform network resource locator. If the embedded uniform network resource locator is activated, the playback application is operable to follow the embedded uniform network resource locator to retrieve a resource addressed by the embedded uniform network resource locator.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a system is provided for distributing a video signal having an encoded uniform network resource locator. The system includes an encoding system operable to generate a video signal including video and encoded information. The encoded information defines a uniform network resource locator embedded in the video. A decoding system is operable to receive the video signal. The decoding system is then further operable to decode the encoded information from the video signal, to display the video with the uniform network resource locator embedded in the video to a user, and to allow the user to select and activate the embedded uniform network resource locator. If the embedded uniform network resource locator is activated, the decoding system is operable to follow the embedded uniform network resource locator to retrieve a resource addressed by the embedded uniform network resource locator.
A technical advantage of the present invention is embedding uniform network resource locators in a time-based medium such that uniform network resource locators are active during playback of the time-based medium. This allows a user to activate links and connect to resources, for example, across the public Internet or private intranets during playback of the time-based medium. The uniform network resource locators can be displayed, for example, as hypertext links and as hot spots. In addition, the uniform network resource locators can be displayed and made active while the playback application performs VCR functions such as rewind, fast-forward, and frame advance.
Another technical advantage of the present invention is the ability to encode uniform network resource locators into a video signal such that the video signal can be transmitted across a distribution network or recorded. The video signal can then be received, the uniform network resource locators decoded from the video signal, and the,video displayed with active uniform network resource locators.
A further technical advantage of the present invention is the ability to associate uniform network resource locators with various types of time-based media tracks, including image and audio tracks. In addition, transformations for hot spots can be specified for movement of hot spots within the playback display.